MSS: Michael Lawson

Michael Lawson is only 24 years old and is experiencing many challenges as swimming head coach at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and on today's edition of The Morning Swim Show, he talks about how he’s approaching those challenges. After the university kept the men’s swimming team on the campus, Lawson had to work with a limited number of scholarships, but says the crop of young swimmers in New Jersey is a great place to recruit.

Peter Busch: This is The Morning Swim Show for Thursday, January 5th 2012. I'm your host Peter Busch. In the FINIS monitor today we'll talk to Michael Lawson. He's the Head Swim Coach at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The team has had an eventful past couple of years to say the least, same kind of goes for Coach Lawson's career. He's only 24 and he's already dealt with the kind of turbulence that coaches hope they never have to encounter. Michael Lawson joins us to talk about it right now. He's in the FINIS monitor from Newark, New Jersey. Coach, welcome to The Morning Swim Show. How are you?

Michael Lawson: Good. How are you, Peter?

Peter Busch: Good, thank you. So this all goes back to a couple of years ago when the school was pretty much ready to cut the swim team, correct?

Michael Lawson: Correct. The school was going to cut the men and women and we kind of organized the team, at that point I was an assistant coach and many of the team members came together and went to the administration and we were able to save the men's team, unfortunately we weren't able to save the women's team, but for the past two years we've been able to bring back the team with a little funding from the school and a lot of funding from our alumni and also our swimmers and they're very committed to continuing the program and that's where we are right now.

Peter Busch: Did I see this right that your men's team actually has a few women on it?

Michael Lawson: That is true - one of the things that we found out is that we can have women on our men's team if we do not sponsor a women's team. So we were able to pick up a few extra bodies to make compliance - that 11-member team is always important - and we were able to go out there and the women were able to swim with us and they are an integral part of what we do here at NJIT.

Peter Busch: Do they actually compete like in the same events or do they swim against women in different meets?

Michael Lawson: Well that's one of the things that we have to grapple with, is that our women do face men in a lot of our meets. At championships however they do get to go against women, at invitationals that we go to they do get to face women as well, but they're up here, they signed up for it and they were fully wanting to participate in the team and be part of the Division I experience.

Peter Busch: Talk about a unique situation there.

Michael Lawson: Yes, I mean we definitely stand apart from our competitors but the one thing that sets us apart is that the athletes are really motivated to compete at the Division I meet level and have that experience underneath their belt.

Peter Busch: You were a grad assistant, you were an assistant coach, now you can say you're a head coach in a Division I swimming program, again one that has certainly not had the ideal past couple of years but what phenomenal experience for you at such a young age.

Michael Lawson: Yes, it's been a learning experience to say the least. It's one of those things that as you go you make some mistakes but we make good on what we're doing here and a great coaching staff that supports me. They're also a bit younger than I am, they're both a year younger than I am, so we have a very young coaching staff but we're able to really bring a different connection to the athletes - I think that's what puts us apart - and we understand what they go through. I went through NJIT, I was an undergrad and grad here, so I understand what the swimmers are going through when they have to grapple and balance academics and athletics. At NJIT where we're highly academically focused, it's one of those things that we do that on a daily basis we have to deal with.

Peter Busch: Where is this stability of the program right now going forward?

Michael Lawson: Right now the school is very behind us, they've actually increased funding this year and hopefully we'll increase next year. Our scholarships I'm actively recruiting and I have a lot of people from the New Jersey region. I find that New Jersey is a strong - has a very strong swimming community - and we're one of the only public Division I schools in the state, so it really sets us apart from a lot of other schools.

Peter Busch: Swimming is pretty popular there in New Jersey, right?

Michael Lawson: It is, I mean we do our best to compete with all the other states, but there is really a talent here that I think that we can tap into.

Peter Busch: Some of the funding limitations, you said you - how many scholarships do you get to work with?

Michael Lawson: We actually only get to deal with one scholarship right now.

Peter Busch: So how can you say you're actively recruiting? We all hope it increases for you and for the program but that really puts you in a tough spot.

Michael Lawson: It does, but one of the things that we look into is that I'm recruiting students that are highly academic and that really makes it a little easier because there's a lot of academic money that NJIT can give out. If their SAT scores and their GPAs are high enough it makes it much easier to actually get them a lot of academic money especially in the engineering, science, and technology fields where most of the jobs are right now.

Peter Busch: So how many total kids on the team?

Michael Lawson: We have 17 right now and hopefully we're going to grow that and be able to compete at a higher level next season.

Peter Busch: Well, what a fascinating situation you guys have there and I hope that it continues to grow in good ways for you, Coach.

Michael Lawson: Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on.

Peter Busch: All right, that's Michael Lawson joining us in the FINIS monitor from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. And that is it for today's show, I'm Peter Busch reminding you to keep your head down at the finish.